Gemma Jones, Lesley Manville and Juliet Stevenson have spoken out against ageism and sexism in the entertainment industry.

Jones, who stars in Woody Allen's new film You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, claims that there is an "obsession" with "youth culture" in film, television and the theatre.

The 67-year-old told The Daily Telegraph: "I have a valiant group of loyal girlfriends who are rarely working and it's very distressing. We still have our marbles and our energies and experiences but the jobs and roles aren't there.

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"It's a very touching and compassionate and feisty view of a mature woman, but that's come from a woman. Do men write so well for women? In my experience, mature men are always looking for young skirt.

"It's not that maturer women aren't attractive, but you're not going to play the mistress or the lover, you get assigned to being the parent or the grandparent."

Jones also criticised industry executives for ignoring and diminishing the production of scripts involving mature actresses.

She continued: "There is a focus on youth but is it what audiences want? As you're older, you have more leisure time to go to the theatre and cinema, but you are not being catered for.

This ageist thing is very worrying because women think they have to keep looking young," she said.

"I look at cosmetic surgery and I find it very sad because I love mature women who look as if they have lived, but there's an anxiety about having to pretend to be younger than you are.

Jones added: "It's because actresses think: 'Oh Christ, I don't want to play a grandmother yet'."